Paint session (Mc-202, Cr-25, AS-3, cockpits)

The first painting session with the new compressor was a general success, though there were some issues. They weren’t so much pressure related as they were paint related.

I suspect my experimentation period with MRP Paints is coming to an end. I just can’t seem to get a consistent surface with them. They pool at a moment’s notice, and if they are not pooling, they basically don’t seem to cover at all. Every time I’ve used this paint line I’ve had to buff the surface and reshoot due to coverage issues. And of course the surface is matte, so I have to take the risk of shooting a coat of gloss over things prior to decaling (not an issue for my go-to paint, Xtracolor). I do like their range of colors, which include a lot of Italian shades that are not well served by other paint manufacturers, but the problems are just piling up. I suspect I may switch over to Colourcoats for the Italian and French shades I can’t get from US sources of Xtracolor – of which there aren’t many. But at $5.55 per teeny little tin from their US supplier? Yowtch.

I got an upper surface coat of MRP305 onto the Hasegawa Macchi Mc-202. This is the second try at it, and I think it is decent enough to proceed. So next comes the gloss coat.

I also got an upper surface coat of MRP325 onto the Fiat CR-25. Many coverage and pooling issues, which will necessitate some buffing and reshooting. Insert various bits of bad language here.

My next effort was to get some Alclad Dull Aluminum onto the AS-3. This had problems as well. A few years back, it seems that there were some serious problems with certain Alclad paints. In essence, there just wasn’t enough color in the carrier medium. So you got all clear carrier and no metallic color (or very little). I thought I had chucked all the examples in my paint stocks, but guess again. The Dull Aluminum exhibited these same issues. I’ll have to try my luck with another Alclad shade (maybe Airframe Aluminum?) at the next session.

I was also able to get a Grey-green coat onto the D-520 interior and the inner surfaces of the gear doors on the Mc-202. And finally, I shot the masked tires of the AS-3’s transport cart. Both of these used Model Master paints and performed just as advertised.

I do apologize for the lack of photos today. But I've actually continued working on some of the models, so they don't represent the post-painting state.